Description: This project will evaluate the effect, on cholesterol biosynthesis and atherosclerotic lesion formation, of a mixture of monacolins isolated from a yeast fermented rice compared to Lovastatin. This will be accomplished by measuring up-regulation of HMG-COA gene transcription in HEPG2 cell constructs containing a luciferase reporter gene. A second end point will be the formation of atherosclerotic lesions and measuring blood cholesterol levels in ApoE knockout mice. The final study will assay the bioavailability of the mixture of monacolins from red yeast rice and of pure Lovastatin in human volunteers.